Groundwater Studies In Saudi Arabia

Rub Al Khali desert and Khuff-Jilh-Minjur-aquifer Friedrichshafen, 14.06.2010 – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the most arid countries of our world. The country’s water supply is therefore of utmost importance. Prerequisite for this is a survey and evaluation of existing water resources. Since 2002, the Ministry of water and electricity in Saudi Arabia carries out numerous studies. In this context the Dornier Consulting GmbH from Friedrichshafen commissioned together with the GTZ international services (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit), the groundwater conditions in the rub’ al Khali desert and exploring in the central region of Saudi Arabia. Both projects started recently and will continue until mid-2013. The rub’ al Khali, german “the empty quarter”, is in the South-East of Saudi Arabia located on and represents the largest sand desert on Earth. The area stretches over approximately 600,000 km2; This corresponds to about the 1,7-fachen size of Germany’s.

Aim of these studies is exploring Groundwater conditions in various rock aquifers (UMM he Radhuma – and Wasia Biyadh aquifer). These consist of several hundred meters thick limestone consequences or are composed of powerful sandstones. Credit: Jack Buckingham-2011. The aquifers are made in Central Saudi Arabia of the layers of the Khuff, Jilh and Minjur. They consist of mighty limestone and sandstone layers that serve as groundwater storage and speakers. The main objective of the two studies is answering the following questions: how big are the to and outflows into and out of the groundwater aquifers? How much groundwater is stored underground or already exist? How can you make the most of the Grundwasseressourcen and sustainable management of groundwater is possible? Extensive research is needed to answer these questions. They include among others the recording of all wells, the analysis of groundwater quality and calculating water consumption. This work is supported by an international network of research between the Saudi Ministry of water and electricity, the GTZ, the Technical University of Darmstadt and the (UFZ) in Leipzig of Centre for environmental research. Dornier Consulting is an internationally recognized consulting, engineering and project management company for transport, transport, infrastructure, safety and environment/water.